Sabbah was an 11th-century Muslim missionary who led a community of converts that settled in Alamut, a mountain fortress in what is now Iran, and became known as the Hashshashin, or Assassins. According to legend, Sabbah acquired Alamut by offering its owner 3,000 gold dinars for the amount of land that would fit in a buffalo's hide. When the owner agreed, what did Sabbah do?More...

Today known by its traditional name of Rapa Nui, Easter Island is one of the most remote inhabited locations on Earth. The first study of the island by outsiders was undertaken by British archaeologist Katherine Routledge, who spent 16 months on Rapa Nui studying its indigenous Polynesian culture. She interviewed residents and catalogued the island's now-famous stone statues. Her scholarship proved to be invaluable to later researchers. Why did Routledge's husband eventually have her kidnapped?More...

Born in Oklahoma and raised in Missouri during the Great Depression, Walton opened his first five-and-dime franchise in Arkansas in 1945. Seventeen years later, he opened his first Wal-Mart and began developing the Wal-Mart company into a national chain of massive, centrally controlled discount stores in small towns. By the time Walton died in 1992, his family was the wealthiest in the US, and Wal-Mart had become the country's largest retailer. How was Walton forced out of his first store?More...

Madagascar Martyrs' Day memorializes those who died in the Revolt of 1947 against the French. Madagascar had been a French colony since 1896 and then was named an overseas territory within the French Union in the 1946 constitution. On March 29, 1947, the people staged a nationalist uprising against colonial forces. Casualties from the conflict were reported as high as 80,000. French military courts tried the leaders of the revolt and executed 20. On March 29, the Malagasy government and people remember those patriots who sacrificed their lives for their country's freedom. More...

One of every 70 children and one of every 160 adults is allergic to peanuts, making it the most common food allergy. For those who are severely allergic, the world can be a minefield. A person with a serious allergy to peanuts can react to as little as ...More...

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